Twilight was all set to go back home the following morning. With Barthandelus still locked in his room, it was just the princesses to see her off. Twilight briefly considered telling Celestia about her dream last night, but decided not to. After all, a dream is just a dream... even if said dream was incredibly realistic, and horrifying.

Luna had barely said a word since her outburst yesterday. Aside from a "Good morning, Twilight", in fact, she had not said a word at all. She was clearly still hurting from yesterday, and, occasionally, a suppressed tear could still be found in her eyes.

When the three of them reached the chariot that would bring Twilight home, Celestia said her goodbyes. Luna looked as if she was about to say something, but, evidently, she did not yet trust her tongue. The look in her eyes said enough, though.

As Twilight boarded and the pegasus-drawn chariot departed, Twilight mentally went over everything she had learned yesterday. It was so sad, thinking about the princesses and Barthandelus as the last of their kind. She knew that many species went extinct, but knowing that didn't make it any easier. The Immortals were incredibly powerful, having lived since the dawn of time. How does such a race die off?

Look in your bag...

The sudden voice nearly made her jump. Was she going mad?

Look in your bag...

Frowning internally, Twilight looked in her bags. Her books, parchment, ink and quill...

And a single stone, with a note attached.

She could tell that the stone was enchanted in some way, but she didn't have the time or equipment to tell how just yet. She'd look it over when she got home, but maybe the letter might help explain.

It bore a single drop of red wax, with an “B” pressed on it. Barthandelus's seal. She had thought as much. She quickly read it over.

Twilight Sparkle,

I have seen great things in you. The power you possess marks you as a catalyst for something great, but I fear that your future is grim. Darkness gathers on the horizon. Rumors of unrest in distant lands reach my ears, and I fear that it shall soon spread to Equestria. Even as the kingdom prospers under the reign of Celestia and Luna, old evils and forgotten enemies stir within her borders. You hold in you the power to save Equestria... or doom it to annihilation.

Know that the I will do my best to guide you and your friends along the path to salvation, but the future is dark, and my Sight fails me. I do not know what time will bring to our fair kingdom, but I know that we must prepare for the worst. I have given you something I found long ago. It holds immense power, but it refuses to yield to me. It responded to you, after you left, and I know that you will need it in the coming days, though for what purpose, I cannot tell. Keep it with you at all times. You are the only one that can unlock its secrets, and it is vital that you do so.

In one week, I will come to see you again. Make sure your friends are with you, for there is one last thing I must tell, and you all must hear it. You six are linked, and where one goes, the others will soon follow. As the Elements of Harmony, you will all play important roles in the dark days to come, and you will ultimately decide the world's fate. The only advice I can offer is to follow your hearts. Though the world may seemed destined for destruction, as long as you all do what you think is best, I am sure things will work out. The choices you will all have to make will be difficult, and there may seem to be no right answer, that you must choose between two evils. But all that matters is that you do what you think is best.

The Keeper of History,

Barthandelus

More dark news. It was true that Equestria had been facing many problems ever since Nightmare Moon returned and was defeated. And even in little old Ponyville, rumors of distant troubles reached her ears, though no one really cared about those rumors. But how could Twilight and her friends possibly hold Equestria's fate in their hoofs?

There was no doubt that Twilight and her friends were connected. They were the Elements of Harmony, and none of them would even have their cutie marks if it wasn't for Rainbow Dash. They were destined to be friends even before they meet. Now, they went everywhere together, and no one could doubt that they would all share the same fate. There was never a doubt about that.

But there was still the matter about the stone Barthandelus gave her. If he couldn't tell what it did or what it was for, how could he expect her to? And how something so old be connected to her? Or maybe it was just connected to her Element of Magic. That was far more likely. But how?

And what did he mean when he said that his "Sight failed him"? He couldn't mean to imply that he could see the future. That still went against everything she believed about free will. Even if she had no choice but to believe Pinkie Pie about her Pinkie Sense, she still wouldn't believe that the future could have a set path.

Twilight would have to think about this more later. The chariot was nearly at Ponyville, and she needed to prepare to see her friends.

She stepped off as soon as the chariot landed, and set off for the library where she made her home. It was still rather early in the morning, so she only found Spike, deep asleep right next to the door. She decided against waking him up.

Twilight knew it was only a matter of time until her friends showed up. What would she tell them? Most of what she learned scared her. She didn’t know much about history before the whole Nightmare Moon escapade, but this? Just how long had the princesses been alive? What else had Celestia been hiding from her? How come none of her books even mentioned these “Immortals”? And why did she keep getting the feeling that Barthandelus was hiding something, something important?

Twilight hadn’t realized that she’d been pacing around the room as she thought. It quickly woke up Spike, who, at first, was too groggy to realize what it meant.

“Ugh, could you keep it down, Twilight?” he asked, eyes only half open. “It’s too early to be up.”

He nearly went back to sleep before it hit him. “Twilight! Your back!” Almost too quick to see, Spike rushed over to embrace her.

Her train of thought derailed, Twilight simply took pleasure in seeing her number one assistant again. The two of them had almost never been separated since she had hatched him from his egg as a filly. Heck, she would have brought him to Canterlot, if the letter hadn’t explicitly told her to come alone. Looking back, she was glad she didn’t. She still couldn’t fully grasp everything she had learned in the short 24 hours she’d been away. There’s no telling how Spike would have reacted. After all, he’s still just a baby dragon.

After Spike was done hugging her, he immediately launched a salvo of questions. “So, what was it like? What did you learn? Who was this councilpony? What did he want with you? Did you see Celestia and Luna? Did you bring anything back?”

“Calm down, Spike! I’ll tell you all about it. But first, I’m starving!” As if on cue, Twilight’s stomach complained. Loudly. Sheepishly, she added “I... didn’t really have time to grab a bite before I left.”

“Gotcha,” Spike said, and rushed off to the kitchen. Within moments, the sounds of baking could be heard from within.

In nearly no time at all, a hearty breakfast of blueberry muffins, pancakes (Spike had been making an awful lot of pancakes lately, for some reason), and apple juice was served. While it was not nearly as grand as what he made two days ago, Twilight’s empty stomach all but cried out in joy when she beheld it, and she nearly dived into her food.

One (very) messy meal and a bath later, Twilight was ready to face her friends. The more she worried about it, the worse it would be. Better just do it, and get it out of her system. But first, she had to find them, and gather them all together. Telling it all once would be bad enough. She didn’t want to do it five times.

She told Spike to go fetch Rarity (he obviously loved the idea) while she went to Pinkie Pie’s and Fluttershy’s homes. Fluttershy would find Rainbow Dash, and they would meet up with Applejack at Sweet Apple Acres.

Thus they went on their way. Sugarcube Corner, where Pinkie worked (and lived in the attic), was the closest to the library, Twilight went there first. She didn’t even manage a knock on the door before Pinkie Pie launched (literally) outside, knocking the wind out of her and sending them sprawling outside.

“Twilight! You’re back! I heard you coming but I didn’t think you'd be back so soon, so I didn’t have time to prepare a party like I wanted to, but maybe later we can throw a ‘Welcome Back From Canterlot!’ party and I’ll make a super-duper-extra-special cake and should I use vanilla frosting or chocolate or maybe strawberry its been a while since I used strawberry frosting and I figure this calls for something special, but I don’t know if you like strawberry, so maybe I’ll use half-strawberry and half-vanilla since everypony likes vanilla and I know you like vanilla but you should really try strawberry it’s delicious, and-” Pinkie didn’t even seem to breath as she talked nonstop. Celestia only knows where she gets all her energy. The sheer amount of sugar she consumed might be it, but her energy seemed limitless.

“Calm down, Pinkie,” Twilight managed to say. We can have the party later, but right now, there’s something I want to talk about with you and the others.”

“Okie-Dokie-Lokie!” Pinkie said. “I saw Fluttershy heading towards the lake earlier. Want to check to see if she’s there?”

“Sure,” Twilight said, and the two of them went to the lake near the edge Ponyville proper, Pinkie using her peculiar hop/trot.

Sure enough, Fluttershy was at the lake, busy feeding the local fish and turtles. She always woke up early, making sure to feed all the local animals in the area around Ponyville. Celestia only knew how much it all must cost her, and yet, without any discernible source of income, Fluttershy managed to keep it up for years, ever since she moved to her cottage near the edge of the Everfree Forest from Cloudsdale. Twilight meant to one day ask as to her she managed to do it all, and keep herself fed and afford her cottage. But, right now, she had other things on her mind.

“Hey, Fluttershy!” Twilight said. Fluttershy gave the slightest “eep” at the sudden sudden sound of Twilight’s voice, then turned around.

“Twilight!” she said, in her usual, quite voice. “I didn’t expect you to be back so soon. Did you enjoy your time back in Canterlot?”

“I sure did!” Twilight responded. “I can’t believe it’s only been a year since I moved here from Canterlot. Time flies when among friends!”

“It sure does,” Fluttershy agreed, remembering the many times she’d nearly missed feeding her animal friends when Rarity would take her to the spa. And the times Rainbow Dash would show her her various new tricks. Precious moments, every one of them.

“Listen,” Twilight said, “Could you try and find Rainbow Dash, and tell her to meet us at Applejack’s place? I’ve got some things to tell about what I heard there, and I’d like everyone to be there. I’ve already sent Spike to tell Rarity, so don’t worry about her.”

“Sure thing,” Fluttershy said. “I’m already done feeding all the animals, anyways. See you there.”

Fluttershy went off to find Rainbow Dash. She was probably still asleep. She was never up this early in the morning, unless she was excited about some new trick or Wonderbolt performance. Twilight just hoped that she wouldn’t be too hard to wake up. Usually, it would take a bucket of water or a loud shout to wake her up before 10:00 am, and Fluttershy was not the type to do either.

Ah, well. If Fluttershy couldn’t wake Rainbow up, Twilight could just use her hot air balloon and go wake her up herself. Rainbow wouldn’t like it, but she needed to get this off her chest. And, honestly, Rainbow needed to learn to wake up sooner. Not even Twilight, not even Spike, could sleep in that late. It couldn’t be healthy. Too much of anything can’t be good for you.

Twilight and Pinkie Pie set off to Sweet Apple Acres. Pinkie Pie was babbling about something or other, but her friends have learned to tune her out in such cases. And Twilight’s mind was elsewhere entirely. She knew that she needed to tell her friends about what she learned, but, the closer she got to the moment, the worse she felt about it. She knew for a fact that Fluttershy would take this hard. If it could scare Twilight, it would terrify the poor pegasus. But, it was for the best. At least, that’s what she kept telling herself.

Reluctantly, Twilight forced her thoughts to drift elsewhere. She’d deal with it later, but if she kept thinking about it, it would only make things worse. She focused on putting one hoof in front of the other. She’d deal with it when the time came.

=====================================================================

Meanwhile, Barthandelus stood, watching into his crystal orb, watching Twilight and the Element of Laughter (Pinkie Pie, he reminded himself) head off for Sweet Apple Acres.

He regretted having to tell Twilight what he did. He knew it would cause her and her friends much inner turmoil, but he needed them to be prepared. Hard times lay ahead, and they needed to toughen up if things were to go as hoped.

Barthandelus sighed to himself, then muttered a short incantation, and passed his hoove over the crystal orb. The scene shifted, to a cyan pegasus with a rainbow mane sleeping deeply on a cloud bed. The entire house was made of clouds, as were most pegasus houses. They made for very comfortable beds and blankets, yet, they seemed somewhat lacking to him. He preferred the solidity of traditional bedding, though occasionally he would take short naps on cloud beds. Not that he needed to sleep, but it was a good way to relieve stress, and he got gleam a lot about the state of the world form his dreams.

So many plans, so many variables, he thought. It’s so tiring. If only I could just take a break from it all... no, that wouldn’t do: Everypony has a part to play. I have to stay vigilant.

Taking a moment to collect his scattered thoughts, Barthandelus zoomed in on the image of the sleeping cyan pegasus. With a final, heavy sigh, he muttered another incantation. Focusing on the image, he closed his eyes.

“Wake up.” Next Chapter: Chapter 8: Revelations Estimated time remaining: 27 Minutes